Growing Green

By Robin Trott, Extension Educator

  You may have planted flowers and pollinator habitat… now what? What kinds of insects are visiting your property? How do we keep our pollinator insects safe? Check out this upcoming webinar series to help guide you in improving your pollinator habitat. University of Minnesota Extension educators are excited to bring you this webinar series on learning more about our pollinators. This three-part series will cover how to help pollinators, pollinator insect identification, and integrated pest management practices to keep pollinators safe. Join us Jan. 30, 31 and Feb. 1 from 1-2:30 p.m. each afternoon for this free webinar. You must pre-register for this series at z.umn.edu/BeeSeries to receive the webinar links. This webinar series will cover the following topics:

• Tuesday, Jan. 30: Actions to help pollinators – Elise Bernstein, Outreach Specialist and Researcher with the University of Minnesota Bee Squad. Learn about Minnesota pollinators and discuss action steps you can take to support pollinator health and diversity. By following four action steps, you can create a haven for bees, butterflies and other pollinators.

• Wednesday, Jan. 31: Pollinator ID – Dr. Elaine Evans, UMN Extension Professor and Researcher in Native Pollinators. Learn to recognize common insect flower visitors that you can find in your pollinator garden, including miner bees, mason bees and bumble bees, as well as flies, wasps and butterflies. You will also learn to ID some bumble bees to species, including the endangered rusty patched bumble bee.

• Thursday, Feb. 1: Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Pollinators – Marissa Schuh, UMN Extension Horticulture Integrated Pest Management Extension Educator. Bees are often only one of many priorities in our outdoor spaces. This session will cover how an integrated pest management framework can help us balance our sometimes competing garden goals.

To join us for all or one of these webinars, please go to z.umn.edu/BeeSeries to register. You only need to register once to receive access to each topic. The Zoom link will be emailed to you immediately after you register. If you are unable to attend the live sessions, you will receive the recording via email on February 2nd.  If you have questions about the webinar series or need assistance with registration, please call your local Extension office. Residents in Douglas County may email trot0053@umn.edu or call 320-762-3890.